Chris C. says, "This is my 100% honest review of my experience working with DreamHomes RG. I had a total loss of power in my 3rd bedroom (outlets, switches, ceiling fan all not working) and an additional two outlets in the adjoining room. I had been led to believe my a handyman who claimed to have a working knowledge of house wiring and schematic circuitry that this could be a big, expensive fix as he could not find any obvious origin of the problem. I let a lot of time go by (3; years) before I finally determined to get a professional in to diagnose this problem and get some estimates. I reached out several electricians on Thumbtack, preparing for a perhaps challenging road of meeting with a number of pros and see who ultimately is the best bet based on both reasonable pricing and overall knowledge/ability. DreamHomes RG turned out to be the third of at least 5 pros that were scheduled to come for a service call this far . All those scheduled were offering to come for free and give me an estimate and some sort of answer on what the problem is. First guy came and was able to provide with a starting point as far as a range of possible things it could be and kind of a best/worst scenario cost to repair. But he said he couldn't give me a definitive answer unless I paid him to come back and do an actual service call. Next! Second guy was very established/experienced. He was honest in telling me I probably couldn't afford him, but he did do some preliminary checks with me and gave me some very solid and expert tips on how to troubleshoot myself, what steps to take to ultimately identify the source of the loss of current on that circuit and his advice on how to repair it myself. He answered any question I had based on this information. And he did all the for free, which was very kind and extremely helpful, because everything he told me was spot on. Third one to arrive is DreamHomes RG. This is a father and son team. The dad does not speak English, but he does the work. And the son translates for us in a way that is clear and concise. With the information I gave them, they were able to identify the source very quickly (within minutes) and repair it right there and then just as quickly. They were extremely knowledgeable and professional and clearly knew what they were doing. They were able to communicate to me exactly what the issue was. And they did the repair, restoring power to that circuit, in record time. Obviously they got the job. And it would be 5 stars across the board except for a couple little things which they would certainly benefit from by modifying their presentation and the son's social skills. So what they could do much better (which will definitely insure them more jobs and repeat business) is: 1) The son was not 100% upfront when he messaged and offered to come assess the problem for free. As after they got here and had already started troubleshooting, that's when he brought up a $59 service call fee. I told him I was not informed of this and was still in the process of meeting with electricians and had yet to identify the problem or a quote, so it was up to him whether they want to stay and continue or leave but that I can't pay them for this "free" assessment but will be grateful for anything can do to help me get to the bottom of this.
2) The son was actually very off-putting from the moment he arrived. He had a big attitude problem. He was very dismissive of me and seemed to be passing judgement. He was even insulting to a degree, basically saying that he didn't think I had any money and wasn't serious about this repair. Which is a lot to conclude based on what I don't know. But it was disrespectful and absolutely poor customer service and it wouldn't be tolerated by many I imagine. He could have easily lost them the job right then. But the poor Dad was hard at work trying to find the problem and has no idea what his son is saying to me, so I just let him continue.
3) The son continued to be abrupt with me, very dismissive, blatantly passing judgments on me in my own home and did not seem to want to be there at all. But he did tell me what the dad was doing and answered any questions I had, although begrudgingly. But that dad was so invested in what he was doing, I couldn't make him pay for his son's nearly outrageous behavior.
3) Fortunately for everybody, the dad found the problem real quick. And that dad, completely unaware of his son's horrible social skills and marketing strategy, is just going about making the repair. So the son literally asks me if I'm going to pay them for doing the job? And I'm like, "of course I'm gonna pay you. You're fixing the problem. Like why would I not pay you? But we haven't settled on even the service fee. So what do you think is fair for your time and labor?" They identified the problem within minutes, so the repair was completed in under 30 minutes tops. But they sure did restore well and show me exactly what the source was and what the fix was. So... before I even started coming up with an offer I thought would be fair, the son asked me if I could afford $100. Which at this point is like, "Oh yes. Absolutely. On top of the service call or what?" He says $100 flat total. I'm like YES!!!
Now if the son could learn how to get out of his own way and get his presentation down and his priorities straight, they would be the team to beat, I'm sure. He needs to maybe take some classes in business and public speaking, Public relations, communication and basic common sense. Because if the son could tailor his presentation to match the quality and efficiency of the work and sharpen up his customer service skills, I'm sure most anybody would value the work they did. I imagine most people might think that repair for the time it took etc. was probably worth at least $100 for the result. Probably most would not have any problem with paying somewhere between $200-$300 for what they did. If the dad spoke English, I probably would have paid him at least another $100 directly plus tip. And if they had not been unclear with the service charge but just quoted me $300 to make the repair once it had been identified. I would have definitely accepted that quote and officially hired them. But as it turned out the son got what he asked for. And I still very much value and appreciate everything they did. I am very grateful for the service they provided.
Would I hire them again, all things considered? Probably.
At the very least, I would give them an opportunity to come for a service call and opportunity to put in first bid and the chance to put in a final bid if someone else came in with a better one. And I would probably even pay them the service fee in addition, now that I know I'll get what I'm paying for.
At the end of the day, yeah they did an exceptional job. But almost never had the chance to demonstrate their ability and skill level. You have to earn people business and loyalty, trust and respect. And that comes from the work. The work starts with the first communication and ends after the job is done or the service promised has been fulfilled. In this case, the series of events was so all over the place that ultimately they won my respect and my loyalty but lost their service fee and didn't get paid as much as they should have because the son was too abrasive and arrogant and smug for his own good. But I guarantee if he gets his shit together and learns how to approach each project/client on a case by case basis, he could tailor his quotes based on some sort of a sliding scale, and they would rack up a lot of business and probably, in time, leave the competition in the dust. They can easily prove their worth in the work they do. So if the one who speaks English and basically finds all the jobs got a strategically targeted pitch down and just perfects his delivery, they will be very successful. If he doesn't, he's still gonna get hired and rehired by some but he is going to limit their options severely. They have the potential to really establish themselves as tops of the trade. I will call them for future jobs. Yes. Time will tell the rest."See more
